Revival of Doctrine, Truth, Soundness of Mind and Sanity.
Using Technology to Aid Assimilation
This is something I have recently started, and it has helped to not only speed things up, but to help me keep my focus on the Word when reading.
As Pastor Dave and Gary often point out, the chapter and verse markings do not always indicate where a context begins and ends. I also find them distracting at times.
To get around this, I have clipboarded the entire text of Ephesians and Titus from e-sword into my word processor (OpenOffice), removed the chapter headings, the verse numbers and such. I did leave breaks between sentences, but not breaks between paragraphs. I will probably put in paragraph breaks as the Holy Spirit shows me where the contexts change.
I also had printouts made at Kinko's. I know that's old technology, but it fits my routine. My computer is old, and it takes a while for it to completely 'wake up' when I log on in the morning. This gives me time to read the book I'm assimilating.
I generally do a book a month. Because I am going through the smaller books right now, this technique really helps.
For those that do not have e-sword, it is free, and it comes with the KJV and Strong's. I paid for the New American Standard module because that is my translation of choice, and it is still under copyright. That brings me to this disclaimer: If you use a translation that is copyrighted, do not distribute any copies of files or printouts without permission. I am making this method known only for your own personal use, if you decide to use it.
Instead of e-sword, you can use biblegateway.com as your electronic text source if you don't want to dedicate the space on your hard drive for Bible software.
As Pastor Dave and Gary often point out, the chapter and verse markings do not always indicate where a context begins and ends. I also find them distracting at times.
To get around this, I have clipboarded the entire text of Ephesians and Titus from e-sword into my word processor (OpenOffice), removed the chapter headings, the verse numbers and such. I did leave breaks between sentences, but not breaks between paragraphs. I will probably put in paragraph breaks as the Holy Spirit shows me where the contexts change.
I also had printouts made at Kinko's. I know that's old technology, but it fits my routine. My computer is old, and it takes a while for it to completely 'wake up' when I log on in the morning. This gives me time to read the book I'm assimilating.
I generally do a book a month. Because I am going through the smaller books right now, this technique really helps.
For those that do not have e-sword, it is free, and it comes with the KJV and Strong's. I paid for the New American Standard module because that is my translation of choice, and it is still under copyright. That brings me to this disclaimer: If you use a translation that is copyrighted, do not distribute any copies of files or printouts without permission. I am making this method known only for your own personal use, if you decide to use it.
Instead of e-sword, you can use biblegateway.com as your electronic text source if you don't want to dedicate the space on your hard drive for Bible software.
Replies to This DISCUSSION
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Permalink Reply by Pamela Cook Dreyer on -
I absolutely love technology. I use Pocket e-Sword on my pocket PC. I absolutely love the software. I may purchase the Amplified version since it screams at you:)
I also like your suggestion about removing the chapter and verse divisions. It helps when you can read/listen to something like you would hear a story or read a letter.
I have an iPod. I forget what the link is but I was able to find the entire KJV version of the Bible in MP3 format, one file per chapter or book (if it had only one chapter). It took hours but I download all the files (almost 1200). They announce the chapters but not the verses. At this point I have been able somehow to ignore the chapter announcements. It has made assimilation a lot easier and faster for me.
It is sad that you have to make a disclaimer like you did but some Christians do not seem to understand the idea of stealing unless something of theirs is stolen. I guess you might refer to them as flesh creatures. LOL
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Permalink Reply by Doug Lee on -
For me, loving technology is part of being a ham radio operator. If you want to find a REAL techno-geek, just find yourself a ham who works as a programmer or engineer, and is also into scanners, SWLing, kit building and storm chasing! But hams are also some of the most traditional creatures in existence. You should have heard some of the wailing and gnashing of teeth as the FCC phased out the Morse Code requirement for the ham radio licenses! It would have reminded you of the way church members resist change.
Yet I recognize the value of old technology. I would like to have a slide rule, but I'm not sure I would have much use for a sextant. I learned drafting by hand, and I still see the use of triangles and engineer's scales for checking drawings, so I'm going to hang on to my drafting instruments. I'm also sure that everyone under 40 who is reading this is totally mystified at some of the terms I've used, and they must think I belong to a strange cult. ;-)
Technology, old or new, is a gift from God. We tend to take it for granted, but we need to realize a couple of things:
Not everyone had the same access to technology that we in America enjoy, so we need to thank God for the technology we have, and be willing to help others gain access to it:; and
We need to make optimum use of technology for the kingdom. In other words, be good stewards of everything we have.
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Permalink Reply by Charles Atkinson on -
Doug, I am under 40 and know of most of the things you mentioned. I have used several and loved it (i.e. drafting insturment), but had not the opportunity to continue, not owning my own.
I suspect we all have items that we traditionally hold on to because we value them. I for one love my record player, but need to convert some of the songs to mp3. I love the old cracking sound. I have grown accustomed to the songs and hymns, and they touch my soul sometimes deeper than newer songs do. God can bring an old hymn to mind and speak to me through it because it bypasses my defenses.
But there is a place for learning the new. In order to reach more people effectively media must conform to social trend. IMHO I like to burn DVDs and pass them out - engage more sense at one time.
cya
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Permalink Reply by Matt Laing on -
What a great idea Doug - I never considered getting rid of the verse/chapter seperation - to read the whole book in the original context.
Thanks for the tip!
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Permalink Reply by Doug Lee on
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Just an update, a tweak to this method -
Gary has mentioned several times that the first books he assimilated were the Gospels, to get a true image of the Father and Jesus, so I've done Mark, I've started reading Matthew today, and I'm in the process of preparing the text of Luke.
To make the text more readable, I've had to make changes to the formatting. In making these changes to larger files, I have found that sometimes it is best to work from the end towards the beginning of the document, especially for removing the verse numbers and introducing the paragraph breaks.
This 'editing' is tedious, but it is a good way to get your first intimate and detailed look at a particular book.
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